-LRB- CNN -RRB- -- Roger Ebert was seldom at a loss for words .

His debates with Gene Siskel , his longtime co-host on a succession of movie-review television shows , sometimes seemed to start before the introduction and often appeared to continue well after the credits rolled . He wrote reviews , columns , interviews and articles , an astonishing collection of work that spanned more than four decades with the Chicago Sun-Times , freelance contributions for magazines such as Esquire , CD-ROMs -LRB- Ebert 's movie guide was one of the sources for the popular Cinemania -RRB- and rogerebert.com . He hosted festivals for underappreciated films . He gave running travelogues from Cannes and Toronto .

He tweeted , Facebooked , corresponded with film lovers and held court with words long after his physical voice was silenced by cancer a decade ago .

Ebert lost his battle with cancer Thursday . He was 70 .

What a voice he had : firm , plain , brooking no claptrap and telling you exactly what he thought , a throwback , he said , to his newspaper reporter days . -LRB- Chicago , then and now , was full of such cheerily blunt personalities : Mike Royko , Irv Kupcinet , Studs Terkel -- perhaps to be expected in the birthplace of `` The Front Page . '' -RRB-

Opinion : Ebert 's sheer love of life

Above all , he was easy to relate to . Like many of his readers , I did n't always agree with Ebert , but I could understand his viewpoint . He understood movies were these complex machines of directors and actors and special effects guys and studio suits holding bags of money , machines that -- when they worked -- were magical , like dreams . And when they did n't , he could be a compassionate man , more forgiving than many other critics .

Unless he felt as if the filmmakers had betrayed the arrangement between them and the audience . Then , watch out , because he would say what many of us might want to .

When Vincent Gallo , the writer-director of the Ebert-panned `` The Brown Bunny , '' called Ebert a `` fat pig with the physique of a slave trader , '' Ebert retorted , `` One day I will be thin , but Vincent Gallo will always be the director of ` The Brown Bunny . ' ''

He titled one of his books `` I Hated , Hated , Hated , Hated This Movie '' -LRB- a line from his review of `` North , '' a Rob Reiner misfire -RRB- and another `` Your Movie Sucks '' -LRB- the closing phrase to an open letter he wrote actor Rob Schneider -RRB- .

However , Ebert was as fast -- if not faster -- to give praise . He and Siskel panned the 1987 Christopher Reeve movie `` Street Smart , '' but both highlighted the performance of a then-little known actor named Morgan Freeman , who played a pimp . Freeman was nominated for an Oscar , with Siskel and Ebert 's praise probably playing a key role , since the film came and went quickly .

And when Gallo recut `` The Brown Bunny , '' Ebert went to see it again -- and this time , he gave it a coveted `` thumbs-up . ''

`` The film 's form and purpose now emerge from the miasma of the original cut , and are quietly , sadly , effective . It is said that editing is the soul of the cinema ; in the case of ` The Brown Bunny , ' it is its salvation , '' he wrote .

Opinion : What the Internet owes to Roger Ebert

Thumbs-up

The fact that such controversies could make headlines emphasizes the importance of Roger Ebert to the movies , especially now that we live in a pop culture where everybody 's a critic .

There had been film critics on TV before Siskel and Ebert -- Judith Crist and Gene Shalit among them -- and film criticism had existed since the dawn of the medium . But it was generally taken seriously only by cinephiles , the folks who followed The New Yorker 's Pauline Kael or The Village Voice 's Andrew Sarris .

Siskel and Ebert made it approachable . Both were Midwesterners , a notable point at a time when most film criticism came from the coasts . And , through their TV show , the two approached film criticism the way movie fans , freshly released from a weekend showing at the cineplex , might talk about what they just saw .

`` They turned talking about cinema into an American pastime , '' the Detroit Free Press ' Julie Hinds wrote in tribute .

Their success was n't guaranteed . The pair -- forever immortalized as `` The Bald One '' -LRB- Siskel -RRB- and `` The Fat One '' -LRB- Ebert -RRB- -- worked for rival Chicago newspapers and were regularly at each other 's throats before being paired on a review show , `` Opening Soon at a Theater Near You , '' in 1976 .

`` Professionally speaking , their daily aim was to bludgeon each other via newsprint , their medium/blunt object of choice , '' wrote Josh Schollmeyer in his wonderful Siskel-and-Ebert oral history , `` Enemies , A Love Story . '' Siskel had great contacts ; Ebert had a Pulitzer Prize , the first ever awarded a movie critic .

Ebert kept us entertained ` At the movies '

Their chemistry , however , was undeniable . And as `` Opening '' turned into `` Sneak Previews '' turned into `` At the Movies '' turned into `` Siskel & Ebert and the Movies , '' the two became equal parts knockabout vaudeville team -- frequently guesting on Johnny Carson and David Letterman 's late-night shows , where their debates were very obviously unscripted -- and influential movie critics , willing to showcase all variety of new releases in a pre-Internet age when middle America was n't besieged by all manner of movie minutiae and clips were n't a click away .

They were , in a word , refreshing -- especially for those of us , like me , who grew up far from the film centers of New York and Los Angeles . Where else could you get a sense of movies that might never come to your town ? Where else could you take part , even from your living room , in the debate between two guys who really knew their stuff , and were entertaining as hell to boot ?

The show 's format was frequently copied , but Siskel and Ebert were the undisputed kings of the genre -- triumphant to the point where they trademarked their `` thumbs-up '' summary judgment . By the end , the two men had become almost like brothers -- competitive , yes , but also fiercely protective of each other . Siskel died in 1999 , but reading Ebert 's 2011 memoir , `` Life Itself , '' you 'd think he was still around to needle his fellow critic .

Remembering Ebert : Tweets pour in

The balcony is closed

Ebert changed with the times . He adapted to the Internet quickly , and though he continued with the TV show -- which moved from public TV to syndication in the 1980s -- it was obvious that the new medium was the right place for him . -LRB- Ebert finally left the show in 2008 , though guest hosts had been filling in since 2006 ; it was canceled in 2010 . -RRB-

`` We do n't sit down every Saturday night at 6:30 p.m. and wait for a show to come on television , '' television executive Mary Kellogg said in `` Enemies . '' `` People want instant gratification ; they want to read or see his review the moment they decide to go to a certain movie . ''

Ebert himself approved .

`` I think that the Internet has provided an enormous boost to film criticism by giving people an opportunity to self-publish or to find sites that are friendly , '' he said .

There were controversies here and there . Ebert was criticized for reviewing a film he 'd only seen a portion of . Some of his readers believed he 'd gone soft ; just in the last few months , he gave at least three -LRB- out of four -RRB- stars to such panned films as `` Taken 2 '' -LRB- 21 percent on Rotten Tomatoes -RRB- and `` Stand Up Guys '' -LRB- 36 percent -RRB- .

But nobody denied his impact . He was widely quoted and widely recognized , perhaps the most famous film critic in the world .

Ebert in his own words

These days , when pop culture runs through the very capillaries of the Internet , it 's easy to knock film critics . Who are they to rain on our entertainment parade ? Ca n't we just enjoy the view provided by `` Transformers 3 '' without having to think about it ?

Ebert , as the top of the heap , probably heard his name associated with these thoughts more than most . What made him special was both his joy in the medium , and his unabashed enthusiasm in asking for something more . Go ahead and love movies , but give them some thought , too .

He conveyed all this through his words -- his vital , incisive , energetic , determined words .

He said it best himself .

`` However you came to know me , I 'm glad you did and thank you for being the best readers any film critic could ask for , '' he wrote in his last column , `` A Leave of Presence , '' published Tuesday . `` Thank you for going on this journey with me . I 'll see you at the movies . ''

Lights down , please .

@highlight

At a time when critics mostly hailed from the coasts , he was a Midwesterner people related to

@highlight

He had a firm , plain , brooking-no-claptrap voice and said exactly what he thought

@highlight

There were controversies here and there , but nobody denies his impact on movie criticism

@highlight

Ebert , 70 , lost his battle with cancer Thursday